7 Day Trip with Liliana and Blaise

7 Day trip with Liliana and Blaise in North Bali and East Bali

We started in North Bali with Spearfishing, and doing some spearfishing training in the shallow waters of north bali where we could prepare our hunting skills befor the big game fishing in east bali we planned to do in the next 5 days.

The View on the way to the North

 As we meet in the hotel where we had a quick briefing of what we are going to do the next few days and explained the plan of the whole trip and purpose and what we would be able to see during the next few days.

Packed up Jukung befor the dive

We do a full on gear briefing befor we jump into the adventure and how to use the guns, and get used to the equipment and how to properly handle it.

Fun Times in the Jukung

Then we started exploring the coast around north bali and after all the briefing we jumping into the water

Preparation

Day 2

In the morning befor the spearfishing we have done a short breath-hold course for spearfishing to increase our chances and hunting abilities in the open water.

Liliana did 2 amazing minutes and Blaise did amazing 3minutes in the morning!!

Breath Training

On the way to 3 minutes

We started in the afternoon due to tidal movments so we have the best chances of catching fish and the good visibility.

That day we ended up catching a nice sized Bluefin trevally which they prepared in the restaurant later on for dinner.

Brining the catch to the boat

Day 3

We meet at the Harbour to cross to East Bali with the ferry.

As we arrived we checked into our hotel and prepared all the gear for the boat so we are ready for the adventure.

We travel around east bali to find our good fishing spots and enjoying the views of the landscapes and ocean.

EAST BALI VIEW

Day 4

We started early morning following the tides and went into few diffrent spots to have a high chance of shooting few fish,
that morning everything was going crazy and the jumped into the water and saw the fish jumping ontop of the surface and it was alot of excitment that day, the currents where not easy but we ended up with a beautiful catch for the end of the day we have been stalking fish and swimming alot for it.

Blaise with his amazing catch of a bluefin trevally

Day 5

That day we will not forget because the experience of all the Dolphins and freediving with big Gts was awesome, we changed up few spots and went to checkout some freediving spots for the change of the trip.

Free diving 

 Hunting Practice

Hunting around

Freediving in some crystal clear waters

Amazing GT patroling around us

Day 6

The beauty of spearfishing is that it can always be a big suprise and you never know what happens during the next dive, suddenly everything can change.
We went out during the afteroon and decided to come back abit later so we can see the sunset from the boat.

On the last spot we checked I dived down abit deeper and decided to have alook on the ledge and encoutnered a school of dogtooth tuna which i took the chance to shoot.

Dogtooth

Dogtooth and Small GT

Later that day when we returned to the hotel we had the amazing experince to try the dogtooth sashimi , prepared for liliana and blaise that evening and everyone loved it because it was so fresh ,

we kept the fish on ice in our good kill bag that keep the fish fresh and good during the hot weather here in bali since we want to enjoy the catch to the fullest!!!

Preparing Sashimi

The days passed quickly and we had alot of fun.. spearfishing in the North and East and enjoying some of the freshess fish caught by ourselves.



Trip with Liliana and Blaise 5- 11th of August Guided by Hubert.

Best seafood in the island of gods

1. Sea Urchin try gold banded snapper is cook with perfection. If you want to impress your gf or boss wife to fancy dining, this is the right place to go. Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2. Take japanese restaurant, if you miss out on lobster in bali. Try the fresh live lobster sashimi!  it melts in your mouth. Also dont forget to try mentis sashimi, sea urchin, belly salmon, grouper, snapper, and mackerel. Tuna i am not a big fan of the taste because is frozen ,its not fresh tuna. from my experience running bigeye tuna, southern bluefin and yellowfin long line business.Take is the best place to eat sashimi grade tuna and is quarantee the tuna is not CO treated like most japanese restaurant in Bali. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3. Laota i suggest you order the steam cod with soya sauce and prawn called "udang mabuk". The prawn are lived prawn boil and serve with deliious sauce.⭐️⭐️⭐️

4. Jimbaran seafood. The food is tasty, but the quality and grade of the fish is second grade fish that didnt pass export standard. You must choose carefully for the freshness of the fish for the best dining experience. I will stick with gold banded snapper, rosy snapper, bream,emperor and gold spot spinefoot. Avoid groupers, barramundi, trevally and all other fish. Lobster and prawn are over price, not fresh and its not worth it!! ⭐️⭐️

5. Duck king. You can eat fresh lived coral trout and sometime if you are lucky barramundi cod. Order the steam with soya sauce. Also dont forget to try the jellyfish. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy dining in Bali, and dont forget you pay for what you get. You go cheap you get bad quality, you pay well you get a good quality. There is not such place in this world you pay cheap for good quality food.

Fish with many names

I am a bit worried and disgusted by the popularity of the usage of Escalor aka Butterfish, Oilfish, white tuna , Ikan Setan and many other names. Why the local fisherman call it "Ikan Setan" is because of the Keriorrhoea affect it has on the person who consumes the fish.Escolar's diet contains food high in wax esters. Wax esters that are really difficult for Escolar to digest. As a result, these esters build up in the fish. Keriorrhoea occurs because the wax esters in the flesh of the fish pool up in your intestine. Why fisherman of Indonesia call Escolar "Ikan Setan", translation "devil fish"... Now Imagine your fishing for months on a long line vessel and having diarrhea. It is one of the worst sicknesses you can have onboard. You get dehydrated, weak and stuck on a boat thats rocking side to side.

So fisherman avoid this fish but why are people eating this fish in fine dining restaurants? Well first of all i am not sure if the chef knows that fish is Escalor because the seller calls it butterfish, white tuna, and cod.

I guess if you only have less then 100 gram is save to eat it, but if you have weak stomach I suggest to  avoid this fish.

A typical "Ikan Campur" bycatch sunfish, escolar, mahi-mahi, wahoo etc..

Another fact that consumer should know. I will give you short brief history of Escolar in Indonesia fishery. 20 years ago Longline company only catch 100kg up Bigeye Tuna, Yellowfin and Southern Bluefin. Baycatch such as sunfish, Escolar, shark, Albacore and Swordfish and release back. Few years after the number of tuna catch drop. So they add Swordfish, Albcore some pelagic fish and still throw away Escolar. Then the last 10-6 year they start bringing back Escolar and sold under various different name. first it was sold for under 50 cent a kg and until this day 3-5 dollar per kg. The Escolar are caught in deep water, only the longline vessel catch it. They store Escolar along with all the other bycatch which they call "Ikan Campur". The bycatch stayed onboard in the vessel until they return to dock which usually vary between  3-6 month. The fish are not treated properly and majority of the vessel don't have a proper freezer because the are using fish hold with minus 4 degree water to store all the fresh tuna and swordfish.

Ecolar after frozen for 3 month

Is it worth it? no because the fish is not fresh, laxative, and it can ruin your date with a really hot girl.  I suggest stick to snapper, grouper and barramundi. They are fresh and no need to worry about going to the toilet.

tips:
1. Butterfish in all japanese restaurant in Indonesia is Escolar think before you eat that white yummy Sashimi
2. Butterfish in some of the 5 star hotel is not some fish from America, is Escolar that is 3 month old frozen.
3. If your planning to lose weight eat Escolar for a week.

Problem cooking your fish in Bali?

Chef Asier can transformed any type of fish to the best seafood meal you will ever have in your life!! Rather you're on your holiday or a settler in Bali, having trouble with your catch from the sea. Get Asier to swing by and arrange a private dinner. From Top restaurant to remote surf camp in indonesia all have tasted Asier's wonder in the kitchen.

He can cook any type of dish from around the globe. I guess it depends on his mood and what he can work with around him and thats when the magic start.

Aiser New Recipe Bigeye Tuna